Bethlehem places fourth at state finals
200 free relay team nabs 2nd; Johnstown’s Gray 2nd in 50, 3rd in 100
Bethlehem began the New York State Public High School Girls’ Swimming and Diving Championships with a sixthplace finish in the 200 medley relay on Saturday.
That was pretty good, and things only got better for the Suburban Council power and the rest of Section II as the meet wore on.
Coach Kerrianne Sanicola’s Eagles added a runner-up finish and a handful of other strong showings to lead the way at the four-hour meet at Ithaca College. It helped Bethlehem finish fourth in the team standings with 124.5 points and Section II placed fifth with 180.5 points.
“They love to compete,” Sanicola said of her team, especially the relay girls. “They give it everything they have.”
Indeed.
Sydney Sorbello, Ella Kaback, Maggie Hartman and Megan Novak clocked a 1:48.43 to earn sixth and make the medal stand in the first race of the day.
“It was awesome with the finals being so hyped,” Sorbello said of the atmosphere. “With our parents cheering, the entire section team, they boost (you) up.”
Hartman agreed, but admitted to the extra pressure the finals bring.
“We were pretty nervous, but there was fun and excitement,” Hartman said. “We wanted to do well for the team and the section.”
Bethlehem did even better a few events later. The 200 freestyle relay had the Eagles as the second seed with a 1:37.17 prelim time and they bettered that with a 1:37.08. That was good enough for All-american consideration and it left Hartman, Anna Bernasconi, Novak and Sorbello beaming.
“It was awesome,” Sorbello said again. “I thought we could do it. I’m so proud of us!”
Sanicola changed her lineup a bit for the final and it worked and made no difference to the girls.
“Normally they put me at anchor, but I’m happy with the result and change,” Novak said.
“It was very exciting,” Bernasconi said. “We knew we could have an amazing state meet.”
The runner-up finish was better than what the Eagles did in 2017.
“We were third last year,” Hartman said. “I felt sure (we’d) step it up.”
The only relay team to beat Bethlehem was one from the combined team of Sleepy Hollow, Hastings, Edgemont and Irvington, otherwise know as SHEDI at the meet. The Section I power clocked a 1:35.55 to win the 200 free relay and was second in the team title chase to Pittsford from Section V. Pittsford had 217 points to SHEDI’S 202.
The tie for the best showing for Section II was Johnstown High School’s Alayna Gray. The junior was second in the 50 free with a 23.48.
“I missed my wall (turn), so I’m disappointed a little,” the junior said. “But I still got second.”
Gray admitted being too excited may have contributed to the bad turn and knew she needed to refocus for her next event.
“I had to calm myself down for the 100,” she admitted.
She did and her 51.48 was good enough for third place. That’s even better considering the winner of the event, Northport’s Chloe Stepanek wound up winning with just the third sub-50second time in state history.
Sorbello also was in the event and finished tied for sixth, helping Bethlehem add to its team total and she had another sixth in the 100 backstroke with a 56.85.
Ravena-coeymans-selkirk’s Gillian Burch clocked a 1:04.91 in the 100 breaststroke to better her prelim time and place eighth. Shenendehowa’s 200 medley relay team placed eighth and its 400 free relay team was 10th. The Plainsmen wound up 19th out of 91 teams. added the extra-point boot.
Shaker went on its only extended possession of the second half, but eventually punted it to the New Rochelle 9-yard line. Three plays later, Forrest thundered up the middle for a 65-yard touchdown run.
“He is a big back, but he can finish the deal,” Dirienzo said.
The Blue Bison had three more offensive possessions, but failed to generate a long drive.
“We did a lot of things we wanted to do. They beat us with a couple of big plays,” said Lavender, who recorded an interception in the second quarter and was named Shaker’s defensive Player of the Game to go along with Burt (144 yards rushing) as Offensive Player of the Game.
Shaker also advanced to the Class AA semifinals in 2012. In that contest, the Blue Bison fell 28-21 against New Rochelle at Kingstown’s Dietz Stadium.
Dirienzo said it took everything his team had to overcome Shaker Saturday.
“First of all, they execute their offense to perfection with the faking and the discipline they showed,” Dirienzo said. “We had to adjust at halftime and get out of what we were doing on defense. We did and the kids were able to execute it on the fly.”
Shaker, at times this season, was a squad doing things on the fly. The Blue Bison lost standouts Jovani Wiggs and Will Pepe to seasonending injuries. Through it all, the team managed to find ways to win.
“This season is one that we had a lot of ups and downs, but we didn’t let the downs keeps us down,” Toutai said. “We faced a lot of adversity with Jovani’s injury, but we showed coach we had resiliency.”
“You pushed those guys to the edge,” Sheeler told his players.
“We have nothing to be ashamed of. We certainly battled,” Sheeler said. “I told them the scoreboard is a distraction tonight. We knew what kind of team we were going to be —with the fight we came with every play. There was never a second in this game when we were down and never a second in this game where we quit. We kept coming and for that I am very proud of our team.”